Giganotosaurus Facts for Kids: Giganotosaurus was really a fast runner! Do you thinks what is faster a Giganotosaurus or a space shuttle? Let’s learn five gorgeous facts about Giganotosaurus.
The Giganotosaurus lived 97 million years ago during what was known as the Late Cretaceous period. The first Giganotosaurus fossils were first discovered in 1993 and a few years later the second Giganotosaurus fossil was found. These fossils were found below the equator in the Patagonia region in Argentina. Only about 70% of the Giganotosaurus skeleton has been found, therefore we don’t know exactly what this dinosaur looked like.
The Giganotosaurus is one of the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs. The dinosaur’s name itself gives this away. However, because the whole skeleton of this dinosaur hasn’t been found, palaeontologists must estimate how big the Giganotosaurus really was. The Giganotosaurus was said to have reached up to 13 metres in length and may have weighed between 6 and 13 tonnes. The Giganotosaurus’ skull was massive, reaching up to 1.8 metres in length! That’s around the same length of a tall human.
To eat all the meat in their diet, the Giganotosaurus would have needed very sharp teeth. The Giganotosaurus’s teeth were roughly eight inches long and they were like blades. These teeth would have been perfect for slicing through flesh. It is thought that the Giganotosaurus would have fed on herbivores that lived around it.
The term Giganotosaurus roughly translates into “giant southern lizard.” This giant dinosaur may have been big in size but unfortunately, its brain did not grow to the same extent. Although the Giganotosaurus’ skull was large, its brain did not fill this space. It is thought that the Giganotsurus brain was roughly the size and shape of a banana. Funny, when you consider that bananas weren’t even known that many years ago. It’s quite hard to imagine what that looked like.
It is said that the Giganotosaurus could outrun the Tyrannosaurus Rex, especially when they were hunting down on their prey. The estimated speed of a Giganotosaurus is 20 mph. It is safe to say that you and I could not outrun a Giganotosaurus. Like most other species of dinosaurs, Giganotosaurus laid eggs to reproduce. After the hatching of the fertilised eggs, a new baby Giganotosaurus was born. The baby Giganotosaurus’ grew quite large from a young age.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about Giganotosaurus as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic this dinosaur is, you can move on to learn about other dinosaurs like: Apatosaurus, Velociraptor, Ankylosaurus and Brontosaurus.
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